Aquinas Medal Awardee

On April 7th, we  attended the Catholic Schools Dinner celebrating the 25 years of Catholic Education in West Virginia.  My daughter is the  Aquinas Medal awardee from her school.   Every year, they  choose one student with an excellent academic grade for this award.  Community service and other  religious participation is also a factor  for this prestigious award.  We are very humbled that our daughter was selected this year, it is a great honor.

Before the  awarding ceremony, we attended a Sunday mass celebration  first at St. Francis de Sales.  It was a beautiful service led and celebrated by Rev. Monsignor Anthony Cincinnati.  We had to leave after the mass right away and proceeded to Marriott Waterfront hotel for the  awarding ceremony.  

After registering at the recipient table, my daughter  had to get her picture taken with the Bishop at the designated photo area.  Then we  proceeded at the reception area where snacks and refreshments were laid out.

The kids enjoyed the  cookies and punch.  There was an hour window   given to all the  guests before the dinner begin so it gave all of us a chance to socialize with the other guests although we didn't do  much because we are not that social people lol.  We just spent our time  taking some pictures after we said high to the people we know from our school and the two schools we know from our place.

"Saint Thomas Aquinas  was an Italian Dominican friar, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church. He is an immensely influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism, within which he is also known as the Doctor Angelicus and the Doctor Communis."

With the principal of St. Joseph School, Mrs. R. Fuscardo.

With the awardee from St. Paul School and the principal of Madonna High School.

After an hour of  socializing (not), the  formal dinner have started.  Our parish priest, Fr. Dennis also came and attended the ceremony.

Salad and bread were  served for an appetizers.  I was pretty much  full with eating just that.

The main course include chicken, mashed potatoes, and veggies.  I couldn't eat the meat, my anti-salt pallet thinks that every food is salty (lol).  I was gonna pull a Cinderella Man technique there where the wife  saved the meat for her kids at home but in my  case for the dogs, but I didn't.  I was just thinking of how many food are wasted in this kind of events. 

They also served  cake for dessert.

While dessert are being served, the awarding commenced.

Photos were blurry for the awarding.

Before  going home, we  got the chance to take pictures of the  awardees of the Catholic schools in our city. Three kids  from Madonna  received an Aquinas award and two Sebastian award.  St. Paul also had one  Aquinas awardee.

The Spartan Family - St. Joseph School.

The proud Daddy.

By the time the ceremony was done, we were all tired.  We woke up really early that day and head to Morgantown which is an hour and half drive from our  place.  

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Congratulations to Rylie Cottrill on being the St Joseph the Worker 2019 Aquinas Award Winner. This is the highest honor a student can receive in the Diocese of Wheeling Charleston.

A post shared by Weirton St. Joseph (@weirtonstjoseph) on Feb 8, 2019 at 3:55pm PST

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8th Grader, Rylie Cottrill has been named 2019 Aquinas Medal Recipient for St Joseph the Worker. Rylie will be receiving the Aquinas Medal at the 25th Annual Bishops Dinner for Catholic Schools on Sunday, April 7, on Morgantown, West Virginia. This is the highest honor a student can receive from the diocese. The award recognizes students for their outstanding qualities of faithful discipleship, academic excellence, leadership and service to school, parish and community, reflecting the ideals of Catholic education epitomized by St Thomas Aquinas the patron saint of students. Rylie is the daughter of John and Rose Cottrill and big sister to E.J. Cottrill. We are so proud of Rylie!

A post shared by Weirton St. Joseph (@weirtonstjoseph) on Apr 5, 2019 at 5:42pm PDT

We will be in Charleston for 3 days for the WV History Bowl championship next week then when we come back, we will be going to a 3-day field trip in DC. The next day after DC, they will be having the May crowning. That one whole week is packed so I might be walking like a zombie after that lol.  Lots of traveling and lots of events to attend too.  It can be physically and financially draining but its a good thing.  Being involved with our children while they still want us around  is our priority.

St. Francis de Sales Parish in Morgantown

We went to Morgantown last Sunday  for the Awarding Ceremony for my daughter.  We attended the mass at St. Francis de Sales Parish.  All the awardees were invited to attend the mass but it wasn't a requirement.  This church  is beautiful.  When you look at it from the outside, it looks like an ordinary building but when you gyo inside, there are so many   beautiful characteristics that I have never seen in any church that I've been to.

I know my kids and hubby are not into taking pictures these days but I just had to impose of taking some lol.

The entrance of the church is like a  reception area.  They were so many people already when we got there so we just took some photos where it wasn't crowded.  

It took us an hour and half to drive to Morgantown from our place.  The mass was at ten so we woke up early and get on the road after we ate breakfast.  The church was located in a very nice  elevated  hill so the  view from the  church was beautiful.

We  arrived  early so we had a lot of time to look around and take some photo before the mass started.  

The altar is quite unique.  There's only a small cross o top of the stained glass.   

I think the most  unique part of this church is the hanging cross.  There's letters to  the wire or cable that was holding the cross but I couldn't make of what it says. 

Our Principal, Mrs. R. Fuscardo also came.  Although she initially told us that  she won't be able to make it to the mass, we were so glad to see her there.

As soon as the mass was over, we headed to Marriott hotel for the awarding ceremony. 

Field Trip at University of Pittsburgh's Heinz Memorial Chapel and more

On March 29th, the 8th graders  had their field trip in Pittsburgh, PA.  They toured the Heinz Memorial Chapel inside the University of Pittsburgh.  They also went to the Cathedral of Learning and attended a mass at St. Paul's Cathedral.  

I would like to thank their Homeroom Mom, Mrs. Arnold for organizing this event and for spending her day off from work to be with these young individuals.  The photos she took are also greatly appreciated.  

The Heinz Memorial Chapel began as a gift.  Henry John Heinz, the founder of the  the H.J. Heinz Co., wanted to honor his mother, Anna MarThe go=round was broken for this building in 1933, the cornerstone was laid in 1934, and it was dedicated in 1938.garetta Heinz, with a building at the University.

Various religious services are held in the chapel, but it belongs to no one.  From its beginnings, the chapel was intended to be interdenominational.  The chapel is open daily throughout the year except for the University holidays.

The chapel has stood more than half a  century.  Through it all, the chapel has fulfilled its mission as a vital part  of the University of Pittsburgh and the community.  If you are interested in seeing this place, it is located  4200 Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA.

My daughter also took some photos  using her phone, below are some of them.

This aspect of learning is not part of the  public school system which is why we chose to send our kids to Catholic school.

My daughter was drawn to the aisle windows as it depicts well-known hymns.

I would love to see all of these chapels they went to on that day.  I love  looking at churches especially the very old ones.

Their next field trip will be a big one, it's going to be in Washington DC.  I will be accompanying my daughter since she will be the one to offer the wreath.   We will be  dead tired since we will be leaving the day  after we come back from Charleston, the championship round for the History Bowl.  This is going to be a rough week for us but it's okay, we will be gaining a lot of learning from it.  Hopefully, we will have  a safe travels for all these activities.

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“Crucial to science education is hands-on involvement: showing, not just telling; real experiments and field trips and not just 'virtual reality.' - Martin Rees #fieldtrips #Pittsburgh

A post shared by Chubskulit Rose (@chubskulitrose) on Mar 31, 2019 at 4:28am PDT